Master Privateer
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Force Unleashed Campaign Guide Governments, large corporations, and other organizations have hired privateers throughout galactic history. Privateers might operate from a single armed ship, or they might control fleets of cruisers and Starfighters. During the Clone Wars, The Confederacy of Independent Systems was known to use privateers to bolster it's forces, especially late in the war. This might have also been a tactic to induce pirate forces to attack Republic shipping, drawing the pirates away from the CIS's own lucrative mercantile shipping networks. Though privateers are more active during wartime, they also operate during peacetime in more volatile sectors or systems. Typically, a privateer operates under a letter of marque from an authorizing government or a corporate entity that controls a large region of space. A letter of marque offers a form of legitimacy to justify actions that most would consider nothing more than piracy. Indeed, on the surface, pirates and privateers operate much in the same fashion. They privately own and operate armed vessels that attack merchant shipping and take the cargoes for themselves. Whereas pirates attack whomever they please, privateers are theoretically restricted to ships of specific governments or ownership, as authorized by the letter of marque. Pirates treat prisoners as they see fit, perhaps offering them up for ransom or selling them into slavery. Privateers must treat captured personnel as prisoners of war during wartime, or as specified by their letter of marque at other times. Master Privateers are experts at the art of stopping and seizing vessels. They are skilled pilots, capable combatants, and shrewd negotiators. They are familiar with people and regions that are likely to be friendly (Or at least tolerant) toward privateers and are thus able to obtain letters of marque with some regularity. The line between pirates and privateers if often blurred, and legitimate privateers sometimes ultimately cross the line into piracy. During The Dark Times, the Empire considers privateers to be pirates and treats them as such. Thus, active privateers have been forced to the fringes of the galaxy during this time. The future Rebel Alliance would eventually experiment with using privateers, but that would prove to be a very controversial decision, and it did not gain widespread support in the Alliance. Examples of Master Privateers in Star Wars Bakken, Captain Dhas Vedij of the Far Orbit, Grov Bricker, Urias Xhsxin. Prerequisites To qualify to become a Master Privateer, a character must fulfill the following criteria: * Minimum Level: 7th * Trained Skills: Deception, Pilot * Feats: Vehicular Combat * Talents: At least two Talents from either the Misfortune Talent Tree, the Smuggling Talent Tree, or the Spacer Talent Tree Game Rule Information The following are the features of the Master Privateer Prestige Class: 'Hit Points' At each level, Master Privateers gain 1d10 Hit Points + their Constitution modifier. Force Points Master Privateers gain a number of Force Points equal to 6 + one-half their Character Level, rounded down, each time they gain a new level in this Prestige Class. Defense Bonuses At 1st level, Master Privateers gain a +4 Class bonus to their Will Defense, and a +2 Class bonus to their Reflex Defense. Lure of Piracy Even though Master Privateers are legitimate privateers, piracy is a great temptation. If a Master Privateer is lost to The Dark Side, they drop all pretence of privateering, becoming a known pirate, and may no longer take any further levels of the Master Privateer Prestige Class. Talents At every odd-numbered level (1st, 3rd, 5th, and so on), the Master Privateer selects a Talent. The Master Privateer must meet the prerequisites (If any) of the chosen Talent. No Talent can be selected more than once unless expressly indicated. A Master Privateer can select a Talent from one of the Talent Trees (Master Privateer). Veteran Privateer The Master Privateer's experience as a privateer has hardened them to the realities of battle, granting them the ability to subdue their foes with little difficulty. When a Master Privateer makes a melee attack roll, as a Free Action they can grant themselves a +2 competence bonus on that attack roll. A Master Privateer can do this a number of times per encounter equal to one-half their Class Level (Rounded down).